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Something Old, Something New

You’ve heard the Olde English wedding rhyme “something old, something new”. How about “something new from something old”?

That’s exactly what arrived in the mail last week: a charmingly attired wire dress form, an unexpected gift from Marlene Herself. The attached tag reads: “A Gift of Something New from Something Old” hand crafted from vintage linen by That’s My Sisters Donna and Colleen. I love it!

Something new from something old

Marlene, who blogs at In Search Of It All, is a wonderful seamstress and quilter in her own right. She knows how much I like dressmaking forms; I bought one in my size for the first time last year. This little charmer is about a foot tall and arrived wearing a crisp apron, hand-crafted from vintage linen. It’s pictured here in my garden between a begonia and a geranium, but only to show it off. Begonia’s and geraniums have their own vintage vibe, too, don’t you think? The darling dress form holds court on my bedroom dresser below, but I never have much luck with indoor shots. You can see how pretty it looks against the blue wall, but I could only capture the details when I took photos in the garden.

Vintage Apron Details

Marlene said she made “two women happy” when she bought this gift, but I suspect she’s been making many of us happy for years.

Thank you, Marlene, for this treasure and for a daily reminder of your kindness and friendship.

Bodice Detail

Word(s) of the Year

Serendipity was my 2014 word of the year. This year’s word is connections. Here’s a bit of both. I recently connected with Kerry through blogging. I followed a link to her Etsy shop and fell in love with one of her vintage, hand-embroidered linens. In the same week I ordered the beautiful tablecloth pictured below, Marlene’s delightful package arrived in the mail. Serendipitous worldly connections, I love you so, and I love your hand-embroidered linens, too. ♥ ♥ ♥

Marlene and Kerry are two of my favourite people – and how serendipitous they chose a third to bless with their vintage offerings! Love them both too, the dress form and the tablecloth. Isn’t the post a grand thing!!

An abundance of lovely vintage linens! I love seeing what people do with damaged linens (I have so many of them) and the dress form is a very sweet idea! It looks great in your garden but is, no doubt, safer on your dresser! And I’m so happy that that tablecloth found such a great home, with someone who really appreciates it–those mod flowers make me smile every time!

Kerry, I love that tablecloth! I should have taken the time to iron it before taking photos, but it’s been so hot, that if I don’t get out there early in the day I lose my chance. Seeing it on my patio makes me think of vintage coverings for the furniture too, but I know it’s not really practical with all the dirt and debris that gather. I’m so glad we connected. And thank you for shipping your package so quickly.

Oh, Alys. It looks lovely in the garden. Mine is set up over my kitchen sink on the top bar where I see it each day and think of Donna and Colleen. They are lovely, chatty ladies and we conversed at a nearby fast food restaurant over coffee for almost an hour as I picked up the package. I hope to run into them again at the next quilt show in September. You took better photos than I did of it. You are so welcome. I was delighted to find someone that would enjoy this as I wanted to spread those darling things around. I’m with Pauline. The post is a wonderful thing. I’ve had a Boom week and have yet to find a moment to take photos. Hugs to you my friend.

Marlene, taking close up photos made me love this piece even more. It’s so cute the way they added a pocket to the back,then tucked in a bit of lavender. I love the bright yellow ribbon and the lovely hem of the apron. It’s just as charming as you. I’ve saved the tag with there email addresses. I’ll send them a copy of this post. When you see them at your next quilting event, please say hello for me. So good of you to spread the joy. xox

You’re supposed to COOK in that gorgeous outfit? I’d be happy to wear it to a summer gala. Of course, the backside might be a bit breezy, but I’d suffer for the chance to show off the art. Wow. It’s so lovely, Alys. What talented hands those girls have.
And the tablecloth as well, truly beautiful and obviously made with talent and love.
Your garden looks glorious. Hope the squirrels are still blissfully happy.
❤ ❤

Hi cutie pa-2-T. Your little aproned dressform looks perfect in the garden. Wouldn’t it be fun if you could shrink like Alice In Wonderland to try it one. That was sweet of Marlenie-bean or Marlene-a-go-go, as I like to call her…snicker.
The porch is looking very cozy and colourful. How nice to find a vintage cloth the perfect size as your little table. It looks like it was made for you. I like that it’s an oval stitched pattern on a rectangular cloth too. That’s a little unusual and a telling mark that the stitcher had nice skills. Good eye my dear. Did you get my sweet seafoam guest towel on that same trip? xoxox K

Oh, that’s such a good antique mall. Mwaaaa. Geez hon, I have a parcel to send to you for over two months. I’ve wanted to include a project I’ve been slow to finish. It will be popped in the mail soon. All the treasure that arrives on my doorstep is so appreciated, I’ve been dropping the ball and feel rotten. You’re the dearest friend in my heart (((Alys))).
I need to skip over to Marlene’s right quick 😀 less than a year ago for us hey? That would be a fab place to connect. Did you know they’re having a draught on the island too? There are whispers in Alberta too. Not for Edmonton yet but down south. Our river, The North Saskatchewan River is at it’s lowest levels since 2001 and we may have to look at rationing later this summer. The West is turning into a dust bowl like the dirty 30’s. I hate to end on a sour note, so lets change the subject and think about a visit to the antique mall with our bag of Jelly Belly’s in hand with you by my side. What a perfect day! xoxox love you k

I saw on Wilma’s blog that the island was also in trouble, both with drought conditions and smoke overhead. It is scary to see the rains dry up all over the west. It’s been cloudy and cool here today and will be ten degrees cooler all of next week, a relief from the heat. If only those clouds would open up.

I collect vintage linen and these are so lovely. The mini apron is so cute, what a great thing to do with it! Love your little table cloth too. So much history in those linens and they are nice to hold onto while dreaming about their past lives!

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I'm passionate about gardening, organizing, blogging and cats. I live in Silicon Valley, California with my husband of 23 years. We have two grown sons, but our feline family varies. The current count is three.